THE CARBOHYDRATE ADDICT’S PROFILE: CAUSES OF ADDICTION
The events of any given day may bring on a desire to eat. The familiar and obvious smell of fresh baked goods when you walk past a bakery can trigger an addictive attack, as can a more subtle (and seemingly irrelevant) event like a disagreement with a colleague at your place of work.We call these day-to-day experiences “addiction triggers.” Here is a list of some of the most common triggers we have observed in the carbohydrate addicts we have treated at the Carbohydrate Addict’s Center.
EMOTIONAL STATES The following feelings may provoke a desire to eat:Anger you can’t expressA sense of being out-of-control or of being powerlessDepressionExcitementFrustrationSelf-blame
DAY-TO-DAY ACTIVITIESMany quite unexceptional day-to-day activities can cause the carbohydrate addict to progress to higher addiction levels. These include:Changes in home lifeChanges in working conditionsExerciseIllnessPregnancyPremenstrual changesQuitting smoking• Stressful situations of almost any kind EATING HABITSNot surprisingly, a range of dietary and nutritional factors can also trigger addictive response’s. Among them are:Extreme dietingThe sight or smell of foodRapid weight gainRapid weight loss
HIGH-CARBOHYDRATE FOODSConsuming high-carbohydrate foods is another surefire way to trigger the desire for more carbohydrates. Among the foods that most of our dieters have found trigger their addictions are:Bread and other grain products, including bagels, cookies, cereals, cakes, crackers, pastries, doughnuts, and rolls.Fruit of all kinds, including grapes (and raisins), bananas, cherries, date’s, apples, and oranges. Juices too.Sweet dessert foods, including ice cream, chocolate, candy, puddings, sherbets.Snack foods like popcorn, potato chips, pretzels, cheese puffs, and nuts.And other foods, too. including some beans (Boston baked beans, rich with molasses, is a classic trigger); all kinds of pasta, from simple spaghetti and egg noodles to ziti and ravioli; rice (alone and in other dishes); French fries; and—don’t forget— plain sugar, too, even just a spoonful of it in your coffee or tea.*22\236\2*
